Reviews: de Camp, L. Sprague

Rogue Queen —
L. Sprague de Camp

Our
protagonist, Iroedh, is a member of the worker-caste in the Avtiny
community. Her group faces an existential threat: invasion and
enslavement by its more aggressive and larger Arsuuni neighbours.
Iroedh, as a scholar and antiquarian, seems to be of no use in the
struggle. She is looked down on by her fellow Avtiny.

The Hostage of Zir —
L. Sprague de Camp
Krishna, book 4

L. Sprague
de Camp’s 1977 novel The
Hostage of Zir
is part of de Camp’s Viagens
Interplanetarias
series, his attempt to come up with a swords and blasters setting
that made sense.

Relativistic
flight gave humans access to the nearer stars, many of which had
habitable worlds. Most of the worlds also had native inhabitants.
While some of these alien worlds were as technologically
sophisticated as Earth, the natives of worlds like Tau Ceti’s Krishna
and Epsilon Eridani’s Kukulkan were comparatively primitive. The
Interplanetary Council instituted strict limits on the importation of
advanced technology to these backward worlds. Given that supposedly
civilized peoples, Americans and Russians, had already devastated the
Earth’s northern hemisphere, the IC did not want to find out just
what primitives might do with such powerful weapons.

Contact
and trade are still allowed, within the limits of the law. Many
Terrans have ventured out of the port city of Novorecife, on Krishna,
to explore that diverse and interesting world. Several of them lived
long enough to return. Now Krishna is going to be opened to broader
tourism … which may prove unfortunate for Krishnans and tourists alike